Dr. Morris Epstein, Author, Editor and Scholar, Dead at Age 52

Dr. Morris Epstein, professor of English and chairman of the English Department at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, died yesterday at Mt. Sinai Hospital, following a heart attack at his home in Manhattan. He was 52 years old. Dr. Epstein was buried today at Sharon Gardens, Valhalla, N.Y.

A native of Newark, N.J., he was a widely known author, editor and lecturer. He wrote several children’s books; edited “World Over” magazine, the bi-weekly publication of the Board of Jewish Education since 1947; wrote scripts for “World Over Playhouse,” broadcast on WNBC from 1948 to 1950, and served as managing editor of the “Jewish Education Magazine.”

Dr. Epstein was the author of “Tales of Sendebar,” a collection of stories forming the Hebrew version of the ancient romantic tale which originated in the East and-later transmitted to the West. He was associate editor of the-“Samuel K.Mirsky Memorial Volume,” was a contributor to the new “Encyclopedia Judaica,” and recently completed a comprehensive research effort on the fate of the “lost” 10 tribes of Israel.

Dr. Epstein was also a drama and book critic for radio station WEVD in N.Y., and was a member of the editorial advisory boards of “The Jewish Digest” and “In Jewish Bookland.” He Joined the faculty of Stern College for Women in 1955 and was promoted to full professor and department chairman in 1966. He received his BA from Yeshiva University in 1942, MA from Columbia University in 1944, and Ph.D. from New York University in 1957.

He served as president of the Yeshiva College Alumni Association and the American Jewish Public Relations Society, and was also literary editor of the publications board of the Board of Jewish Education. He was honored by Yeshiva U. in 1962 and 1964, and by NYU in 1958.